Mickelson admires patient Harrington

Phil Mickelson reckons Padraig Harrington’s Major winning streak has been a huge boost for world golf.

But the sometimes gung-ho left-hander confessed before the $5 million Barclays Singapore Open that he wishes he could grind out the pars like patient Padraig.

Asked what he most admired about Harrington’s game, Mickelson said: “Padraig's strength is definitely his patience and he's strong in the way he's able to play holes patiently and play the golf course patiently.

“He also has a great short game and is a great putter and he makes a lot of tricky four to five footers often for pars so he's able to withstand and play very well on par golf courses.

“That's what admire about his game and it's a trait we'd all like to have.”

But all eyes will be on Mickelson and triple Major champion Harrington as they bid to finish the year with a win and close the rankings gap on Tiger Woods and new world No 2 Sergio Garcia.

World No 3 Mickelson said: “Padraig winning the last two Majors and three of the last six has been great for the game.

“Not only is Padraig a great player he's a great ambassador for the sport of golf and he's also one of the nicest people you would ever meet.

“Having him as a champion and having his people skills as a person, and the way he interacts with people before and after the round, makes him a great credit to the game of golf.”

While Harrington is still coming to terms with the greatest season of his career, he wants to wrap up his year with a win before he taking an eight-week winter break.

But he’s also determined to wait until he retires before he slaps himself on the back for his Major winning exploits, explaining: “It's been unbelievable. My season will go down as the best of my career so far, and one to remember. But if it sit back and look at it too much and reflect on it to much it can be a hindrance to you getting to your next goals.

“That's the sort of thing you do when you are retired from the game you look back and see what you have achieved. I am much more focused on next year and next year's majors than I am on this year or last year's majors.

“It’s my last tournament of the year and you always want to finish well. My expectations are very high. I'm very much focused on trying to get one last win for the year and that would be the icing on the cake for Christmas.

"This tournament is very important. You have got a very strong field. There are rewards this week, you get good world ranking points. A big element to the game at the moment is the world ranking."

Harrington trailing Mickelson at Riviera

Padraig Harrington continued to battle the gremlins in his game but still declared himself happier with his progress after a one-over par 72 left him nine strokes adrift of a rampaging Phil Mickelson in the Northern Trust Open at Rivera Country Club.

Mickelson on a Masters high after Houston win

Phil Mickelson got a timely Masters boost with a three stroke win in the Shell Houston Open. Picture Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.iePhil Mickelson surged past Tiger Woods in the world rankings for the first time in 14 years to become the bookies’ favourite to win his fourth Masters title this week.

The exciting left-hander followed his course record-equalling 63 with a closing 65 to win the Shell Houston Open by three shots from Chris Kirk and Scott Verplank on 19 under par - the biggest margin of victory on the PGA Tour this year - and leap from sixth to third in the world.